


it's written in the stars of our skin

by orphan_account



Series: Phan Week 2015 [1]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Phan Week, Phanfiction, Soulmates, day three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 05:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5236928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>they may write your future but you still get to live it. [soulmate au where the letters of your soulmate’s name appear gradually, burned into the skin on random parts of your body]</p><p>\\</p><p>i'm participating in (the first ever) phan week this year but my tumblr blog is a mess so i'm also posting these over here to keep track for future reference. to view on my tumblr, click <a href="http://westcoastwentz.tumblr.com/post/133262073462/ill-put-my-future-in-you-phan-week-day-one">here</a>. to find out more about phan week, click <a href="http://phanweek.tumblr.com/">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's written in the stars of our skin

Phil stared at the scribbled _e_ on his right foot, just under the knuckle of his big toe. At that point, he was pretty sure he’d figured out the name of his soulmate but it’d been a long time since anything new appeared. He would get his brother to check over the parts of his body he couldn’t see every morning but nothing came through. Phil had heard stories of people’s soulmates dying before they got the chance to meet and of how the letters slowly faded away, leaving only a burn scar where they were once emblazoned into the flesh. He had always been terrified of this and constantly craned to check his shoulder blade in the bathroom mirror. The _i_ was still there, the pink standing out against his pale flesh. If he wrapped his arm far enough around his body and stretched his fingertips he could rub over it, feeling the way it puffed up just slightly.

That was his first letter when he was five. His parents worried about him being a late bloomer, because Martyn’s first letter showed up at only two. His mum has had hers ever since she was born. The doctor said not to worry, it just meant his soulmate must be younger. Phil had fond memories of his first letter; his own excitement and the relief on his parents’ faces. His favourite was the _a_ though. Just below his left wrist bone, it’s positioning was perfect for Phil’s nervous habit of running his fingers across the puffy flesh. There was a little smudge right next to the curve of it as well, like the writer accidentally brushed the ink too soon before it dried. The doctor said this smudge, and the slant of the handwriting, made it look like Phil’s soulmate was left-handed. Phil liked to think about that, because it reminded him that there are so many things he’d be able to learn once they finally met.

Stepping out of the shower, Phil glanced at the _n_ marking his hip. He blindly reached an arm towards the towel rack to stop the water droplets puddling on the floor and twisted to see the _l_ on his right calf. Five letters. Phil was convinced he only had one more to go and he thought he knew what that one letter was.

It’s common knowledge that the letters appear in jumbled order, so Phil wasn’t too freaked out when he received the _i_. He didn’t want to consider spending the rest of his eternity with someone whose name began with _i_. He’d spent the past eighteen years running through possibilities in his head, refining them every time a new letter appeared. At twenty-three he was more than ready for his final confirmation. The day was soon. He knew it.

As it turned out, he didn’t know quite how soon it was. Phil left the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, and gave himself the once over in his bedroom mirror as he passed to get to the wardrobe. And then he shrieked.

Right in the middle of his chest, directly over where his heart was beating beneath his skin. He tentatively reached a hand up to trace the shape, still freshly burned. It stung as he ran his fingers over it and he smiled, the pain like a secret joke shared only with him and his soulmate.

“I’m going to find you,” Phil whispered, covering the letter _d_ with his hand and smiling brighter than he ever had in his life.

*

hipil

_Dan attempted another combination of the letters littered across his body. He couldn’t figure it out._

liphi

_He knew he must be one or two letters short, but he felt like it was nearly his time. How could he meet his soulmate if he hadn’t found their name yet?_

pilih

_It was early in the morning and Dan would have to be getting up soon, sleep or not. He knew he should at least use his remaining hour in bed to get some rest, but he couldn’t contain his frustration. Letters whirled around his brain, close enough to tease but too far to make a grab at. The ones in his head meant nothing anyway. All he needed was another on his skin._

_He knew people who hadn’t received their first letter for the first six or seven years of their life. He remembered kids in his second grade class throwing First Letter parties like it was a big deal. It didn’t make sense to him, because he’d had the_ h _on his left bicep for his entire life. His mum said he was born with it, which meant his soulmate was older and they’d been destined from the start. Sometimes it took a while to find matches for people. Dan secretly thought he was lucky that he’d been paired without a single hesitation._

_He wondered about his soulmate a lot. What would they look like? Would they have any similar interests? Were they messy? What would it be like to live with them? Dan had always assumed he was expected to move house pretty soon after he met his soulmate. People trusted the system, so that’s what they did. They fell in love and they moved in together and they shared all their personal secrets without consideration. Because nobody had to worry about choosing the wrong person when the right person was already chosen for them. Dan wasn’t sure he liked the idea of a stranger having so much power over him. But he was a child of the system and that was how he’d been raised._

_Dan stretched his arms in front of him, admiring the_ i _at the base of his thumb. He scrambled out of bed, kicking off his sweats to see the_ p _scarring his ankle bone and the_ l _just above his right kneecap. The other_ i _, on the inside of his thigh, felt like a secret message between him and his soulmate. It was close enough to his crotch that he only ever saw it when he was changing or, well, doing other things that involved being naked (he’d never admit to getting off to a single letter but it wasn’t his fault his soulmate had such nice handwriting). It was a sensitive spot for him and he liked to imagine another hand – his soulmate’s hand – rubbing over it gently just to make Dan shudder._

_Pushing the thoughts of his soulmate to the back of his mind, Dan changed into a pair of jeans and tugged off his t-shirt. He wanted to go out today, having been cooped up in his room for what felt like far too long. He glanced down at his chest, habit of checking for new letters, before he put on a clean top. He almost choked in surprise._

_The area above his heart was puffed up into the perfect shape of his soulmate’s adorable handwriting. He rushed to the mirror, admiring the way the letter looked burnt into his flesh. His pulse raced and his palms were sweaty with anticipation. That meant it would be soon._

_“I’ll be waiting,” Dan whispered, covering the letter_ p _with his hand and smiling brighter than he ever had in his life._

_*_

Blue eyes. _Brown eyes._ Black hair. _Brown hair._ Philip. _Daniel._


End file.
